


Stealing Lola

by Skyepilot



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, Being unprofessional together, Coulson dreaming about running, Dreams and Nightmares, F/M, Future Fic, Love, Phone Calls & Telephones, Skye steals Lola, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-06
Updated: 2015-03-06
Packaged: 2018-03-16 13:55:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3490826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyepilot/pseuds/Skyepilot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post Aftershocks, future fic where Skye has gone away to train with Inhumans and Coulson is dealing with her absence and not well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stealing Lola

The breeze stirred him awake again, the fading afternoon sunlight spreading through his still-closed eyelids.

Or maybe it wasn't the breeze?

He waited for a moment, to make sure he wasn't dreaming, then felt the gentle touch again.

Fingers across his forehead, so lightly. One tracing along the curve of his ear.

Smiling, he curled inward and settled against her, hand running for a moment over the corner of her knee.

"Did I wake you?"

The sound of her voice made his smile go wider. He probably looked a little silly, but he didn't care.

They had earned this.

"No," he said, shifting in her lap again, and opening his eyes.

She was staring down at him, a golden halo behind her. Huge brown eyes, warm, and inviting him to look deeper.

"Okay, _yes_ ," he confessed. "But I'm glad."

He stopped talking when her fingers traced along the lines at the corners of his mouth, softening his smile as she drew over the planes of his face.

"I never thought you would run," she replied. "I'm so glad that you did."

Something caught in his chest. The weight of it. Of what they had left behind and why.

"Me too," he stared back at her. Something inside of him felt defiant about it.

She nodded, and he took one of her hands in his and dotted kisses across her knuckles.

"Where should we go, Phil?" she asked, her eyebrows knotted together.

"Does it matter?" he asked with a smirk. "We're together."

"I know," she said, looking worried, then looking away from him, around them. "But there's nothing left."

The smile slid from his face as he slowly sat up, eyes wide, looking around at the burned-out remains of a city.

"I guess we still have Lola," she continued.

Lola, all shiny and new, sitting among the rubble and the remains. He couldn't put a name to this place, but it felt familiar, and there were  
bodies... _Oh God_...

He turned back to her.

"Skye?"

And then she was gone, too.

  
***

The sweat was still sticking his t-shirt to skin as he stood in front of the mirror in his bathroom and rinsed his face.

He didn't want to think about this anymore.

He didn't want to let her go.

He couldn't make her stay.

The humming in the background was nagging at him. Was he still dreaming?

Turning off the faucet, he waited.

There it was again.

Then it clicked.

Racing back into his bedroom he swiped up the satphone sitting on his nightstand.

"Hello?!"

"Coulson?"

His eyes closed again at the sound of her voice. Carrying him like a wave back to that moment, underneath the sun.

"I'm here," he replied, drawing in a loud breath.

"Are you okay?"

Gentle and hesitant, just like she'd always been.

"Yeah," he said, shifting on the bed, trying to pull himself together. This was real. It _was_ her.

"Did...I catch you at a bad time?"

"Just reviewing some files. The phone was buried under them," he said, wincing as he lied.

" _Right_ ," she answered, easily dismissing it. "Just wanted to check in."

"I was asleep," he fessed up. "I'm glad you called."

"I'm sorry," she said, softer now. "It's taken so long for me to get in touch," she continued. "They're kind of weird around here about...outside contact."

"Can they trace it?" he asked, tensing. "I don't want you to..."

"You know me," she cut him off, a touch of humor in her voice, so he wouldn't worry. "They _might_ think...you're my crazy father."

"Oh," he said, leaning back against the bed.

"Not that you're anything like him," she immediately answered. "I just wish he was more like you."

It was almost a relief, really, to hear her say that. The dreams he had been having were trying to make sense of things. And this was clarity. It clarified things really clearly.

Clarity is good. There was a class from the Academy. Negotiations. Clarity is preferrable to agree...

"I know you _probably_ don't want to be compared to him," she continued, interrupting his train of thought.

"No, I do not," he said, a little too quick and honest.

"I didn't mean it like that...," she started, trying to backtrack.

" _Skye_ ," he replied, running his hand over his forehead. "It's okay."

She sighed, and he bit his lower lip, waiting for what was next.

"Coulson," she sounded exasperated. "What I mean, is, I wish they were all like you."

"What?" he said, confused. "Who?"

" _Men_."

"Oh."

He sat up again, looking around his room, smoothing his hand over his hair.

"That's...quite a compliment. Skye," he said. It sounded like they were talking about an op. _What was wrong with him?_

" _Funny_."

"I'm _more_ than flattered," he went on. "How many men do you know...again?"

She laughed a little into the phone. And just like that, the tension was broken.

"Enough," she replied. He swallowed at the sound of her voice. Her wheels were turning.

"I'm glad you called, he said. "I was getting worried."

"Worried, or worse than worried?" she asked.

It was like she was looking at him right now. He could see her. The concern on her face.

"Worse than," he smiled, imagining himself staring back at her. "I'm working through some things."

"Like me stealing Lola?" she asked.

The teasing tone in her voice made him get to his feet and start to pace in front of his bed.

"It felt like you were sending a message," he said.

"How do you do that?" she laughed quietly.  He stopped for a moment. Her voice always went raspy during private conversations. "Read my mind?"

"I think you wanted me to. _Right?_ "

There was a pause, while he held his breath, then she answered.

"Yes," she said, her voice curling on the other end of the line. It sent a shiver through him. "You're not mad?"

" _No_ ," he answered, starting to unravel. "Not at all."

"Lola's mine, then?" she pressed.

"For the moment," he said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

" _Tease_."

There was a shuffling noise on the other end of the line and he'd already anticipated what was coming.

"I have to go," she shot out. It sounded like they were talking about an op.

"Understood," he said.

There was a click, and then, he was alone.


End file.
